The year went out in a windy and wet fashion as North Clark County experienced showers and wind gusts that led to numerous road closures and power outages, which affected thousands of homes.
Heavy rains began on Dec. 26 and high winds the following day caused havoc for utility workers. According to the National Weather Service, central Clark County received more than 3 inches of rain from Monday to Wednesday morning, with totals of more than 4 inches at Larch Mountain.
Winds hit about 50 miles per hour in Yacolt at about 9:30 a.m. on Dec. 27, according to weather service data. Winds in Battle Ground peaked at 40 miles per hour that afternoon.
The winds and rain took their toll on North Clark County. Clark County Fire District 10, which covers Amboy and the surrounding areas, received 20 dispatch calls in less than 12 hours, the department reported. Most of the calls were for blocked roads, trees on power lines, and in one instance, a tree that fell on a car in operation. Numerous road closures were reported in Fire District 10’s jurisdiction on Dec. 27.
Nearly 68,000 electric customers with Clark Public Utilities experienced an outage at some time during the storm, according to Dameon Pesanti, a CPU media specialist. The wind gusts made it especially hard for utility crews who tried to restore power.
“Several times, crews would repair a fallen line only to have another tree fall and take it out within an hour,” Pesanti said in an email.
At the storm’s height, Camas, Felida, Ridgefield, Salmon Creek, Vancouver and Washougal were without power. Pesanti said in some cases fallen transmission lines impacted multiple substations, which affected thousands of people, while numerous smaller outages impacted a handful of homes.
In Ridgefield, outages caused the city’s offices to close early for the day, according to the city’s Facebook page.
In the Chelatchie Prairie, Clark Public Utilities repaired a transmission line that was hit by trees at 2 a.m. on Dec. 28, which accounted for half of the outages at the time, Pesanti said.
About three dozen crews with more than 100 utility workers restored service throughout the night, he said. Customer service and other support staff for the utility also worked around the clock to help customers.
As of Thursday afternoon, Clark Public Utilities had no active outage reports.
Pesanti urged customers to report any outages they have to the utility, either via phone at 360-992-8000 or online at www.clarkpublicutilities.com/outages-safety.
“Their reports really help us pinpoint faults and restore issues quicker,” Pesanti said.
